My name is Victoria DeBenedictis, 31 years old, anemic, severely epileptic and am chronically asthmatic. Once a little girl with a lot of big dreams, to now a grown woman trying to stop them from coming to a halt. I have always struggled with chronic asthma but over the past decade I’ve faced countless trips to the hospital, the ICU as well as a coma due to lung failure. After my coma, I spent months on constant oxygen at home. When I was finally allowed outside of the house and walking better, I had to haul the oxygen to any doctor appointment I went to. For months, doctors weaned me off the oxygen as my body began to handle room air once again. Since the coma, nodules have been found scattered throughout my lungs, mandatorily I go every few months to my pulmonologist for scans as well as for a steroid shot called Faserna. This road alone is and has not been an easy one.

Along with being chronically asthmatic, there is the epilepsy. Seizures began at the age of 25, a few months after I was sexually and physically assaulted, which not only stripped me of my dignity but forever changed my life. My face was beaten in and the back of my head repeatedly bashed in, leaving scarring on the brain, an epilepsy called Post-Traumatic Epilepsy. Life was difficult before the epileptic episodes, but the challenges have but grown. I have suffered many injuries from falls due to seizing. It is a must to regularly meet with my neurologist who works so well as to keep me properly observed and medicated to live with this condition more stable.

Living under my father’s roof, I feel the weight of not being able to support myself or move forward. The funds raised will help cover medical bills, prescriptions, daily expenses, and give me the chance to pursue my dream of going back to school, starting my life back up, become self-sufficient, and not be left behind anymore. In the past, I’ve felt like too much to support, but I can no longer allow that to define my future. All of these dreams I have for a beautiful, fulfilling future, I can no longer allow to just be dreams. Through all the fighting I have done in my life, I must fight for my purpose, all that I have yearned for and aimed for since I was young.

I not only want to succeed, I have to. The past decade has been incredibly difficult, and I’ve almost lost my life many times. There are no words to describe how much your support would mean to me—it would truly give me a fresh start and true purpose. I don’t just have hope for this fundraiser; I pray daily that even some might hear my voice. I dream of being able to take care of myself again and truly start living, never letting these issues control where I go in my life.

Thank you for considering helping me on this journey. God bless my doctors. God bless you for taking a moment to hear my voice.